Fencing the Sky

James Galvin is a poet, and his vision of the people who inhabit the land where this story takes place is also poetic. Instead of a straightforward narrative from beginning to middle to end, it intermingles scenes from the lives of several characters told in flashbacks and flashforwards, all sequenced along the spine of a single plot line that involves the pursuit of a fugitive who has killed another man.The location is northern Colorado and parts of Wyoming extending through the Great Divide Basin and northward into the mountains. The main characters are men with ties to the land -- a rancher, a cowboy, a doctor. Each is witness in his own way to the passing of the rural West and its replacement by land developers and the mining and logging industries. They are also remnants of a code of honor that respects hard work, the individual, the land and its wildlife, and the values of courage, loyalty, and generosity. In particular, Galvin captures the nuances of friendship between these very individual men and the way matters of concern to them are often lightened with ironic and self-deprecating humor. I enjoyed this book and found myself caring very much for the welfare of its fugitive protagonist.I recommend this novel to anyone with an interest in the modern West. As a companion book, I'd also recommend Frank Clifford's nonfiction book "Backbone of the World: A Portrait of a Vanishing Way of Life Along the Continental Divide," which finds many of the same kinds of people from real life and explores in greater depth many of the land use issues raised by Galvin's book. As of this writing, "Fencing the Sky" seems to be going out of print. I'm hoping that it reappears shortly in paperback and has a new life for new readers in that format.

A book I will read several times and. Very well written and a scathing take on the "back to nature" lemmings who want to spread all the woes of overpopulation into the very open spaces they yearn to experience. After reading this book I feel that I have a new author to enjoy and am pleased to see that he has written several.

This the area where I grew up, after reading one of the reviews felt the need to" speak my piece". Don't read this unless you read The Meadow first. This story isn't about land barons it's about the little guy we all know in the new west the ones who hang on to the dream. It has a wonderful crazy twist that we've seen in many of the true life small ranch owners. Enjoy it for the story with all the twists and turns of a Wyoming creek.

A truly lovely read. I'm much reminded of Abby's classic, "The Brave Cowboy" both in tone and in the story itself. What helps is that Mr. Galvin, who spends some of his time as a rancher (hopefully not on one of the postage stamp-sized 'ranchettes' that he pokes at)adds authenticity to his wonderfully told story of the changing western landscape. Mr. Galvin, in his telling of this romanticized tale, suggests that the changing west is not necessarily changing for the better with the demise of the traditional rancher in favor of the transplated urbanite.

My parents live on 5 of those 40 acre parcels about which Mr. Galvin has so beautifully written, 200 acres that they have put their own touch upon. He has realistically portrayed the spirit of the people whose history has been undermined by development. Those who have encroached on this desolate place were also truthfully portrayed. It's a sad legacy that we all have to hand our children, my own included. I very much enjoyed this book, not only because I could intimately relate to the area, but because it was wonderfully, believably written. Mr. Galvin has the ability to convince a reader that they are within the story, with all senses experiencing the moment.